At its meeting yesterday, it voted unanimously for the pilot scheme, but it could be some weeks before the proposal gets to the minister. (Member Tahu Potiki was absent.)
Because the idea affects the Southern Blood and Cancer service the board shares with Southland, Southland will also need to consider the question at advisory committee and board level.
The board decided funds generated should be managed through a custodial account rather than through a charitable trust.
Under the scheme, public patients who choose to pay for extra drugs not publicly funded will be able to stay in Dunedin rather than travel to private treatment centres as some do now.
Hospital advisory committee chairman Richard Thomson said setting up a charitable trust for the pilot seemed an unnecessary complication.
"I don't think we should go there unless it subsequently proves necessary."
The board agreed the pilot should be audited by the audit, finance and risk management committee against a set of 13 principles addressing equity and access, financial liability, and staffing.
Mr Thomson said nobody would have supported the scheme without a principle-based approach, including the rule that queue-jumping, whether by accident or design, must not occur.
Patients who choose to receive the unfunded drugs will have to pay in advance for the cost of the drug, the cost of any extra staff time, the cost of consumable items, an overhead charge reflecting the cost of the oncology day unit, and a contingency payment suggested at 10% of the total cost.
Board member Helen Algar said she was concerned about a two-tier system where public access to service could be compromised because nursing and other staff were diverted to the "top-up" patients.
Also, she asked whether the debate should be at national level.
Oncologist Dr Chris Jackson, who proposed the idea to the board last year, said a fundamental principle of the scheme was that it must not denigrate the public service. He hoped the scheme would lead to the funding of extra nursing time.
Unsuccessful attempts had been made to have the issue addressed nationally, he said, and it was a matter of doing nothing or taking a lead on it.
Speaking after the meeting, Dr Jackson said he was hopeful the Southland board would reach the same conclusion.
The issue was more important for Southland people as they had no access to private oncology services. Dunedin patients had limited access.
If approval was given by the minister, there would be people who could use the scheme immediately, he said.
During consultation, most of the 100 submitters were in favour.
Among those who took issue were Pharmac, two Otago-Southland public health physicians, the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists and the Federation of Women's Health Councils.
